Visualizing Tangibility: A New Materialist Exploration of Preservice Teacher Experience in an Integrated Arts Project

• In Event: Posthumanism, Postmodernism, and Philosophy

Abstract

This theoretical paper offers a posthuman new materialist visualization of tangibility as surface tension between the shared and the personal phenomenological realms. I use the metaphor of refraction to reconceptualize tangibility outside the ordinary dualism of virtual/real, instead focusing on its experiential dimensions. Through episodic narrative inquiry, I show how this refractive visualizing can help us understand the complex ways in which creative material engagement in a combined making and literacy project worked to build a sense of belonging and community for preservice elementary teachers. The hope for this project is that greater understanding may lead to more opportunities for these kinds of learning experiences for students of all ages and across disciplinary settings.

Author

• Anastasia Y. Goodwin, Vanderbilt University